Method and apparatus for completing a well



July 4, 1950 G. A. KEssLER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPLETING A WELL original Filed April 28, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Go Do/v A. sasha-x? G. A. KEssLER 2,513,944

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPLETING A WELL July 4, 1950 original Filed April 28, 1945 INVENTOR. Go ONA/1 s LER By jzfoRNEx/v Patented July 4, 1950 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMPLETIN G A WELL 'Gordon A. `Kessler; Pittsburgh', Pa., assignor Vto The Texas Gompany, New York, N; Y., a corporation of Delaware original applicati-n Aprirzs,1945, serial No.

590;7-'63. Divided and this' application October r, 194s, serian Natzssz l Claims.

This invention relates to the vcompletion. of a well with a gravel pack surrounding a Screen or perforated' liner, andy more particularly toA the placing of a screen ory liner in a mass of gravelor other granular materiali previously deposited in the bottom of the well bore or in.` the. wall cavity. The principalobject of theinvention is the' provision of a method and an apparatus or assembly' of parts by meansvv oi which a wellcanbeK completed, and placed on productions with., a minimum: of time-and effort.

This: application is a division of application. Serial No.y 5903763,;1ed April 28, 1945-.

In'. one method of gravel .packing a` wel-l a s creenfor perforated :liner isvplaced; in the wel] cavity suspended from or attached to the lower end vof a string of tubing and.' the gravel: in ay carrier fluid such asl drilling mud' is circulated downwardly through the annular space between` the tubing and the casing. The carrier fluid passes into the screen or' liner and then upwardly tov the. surface through the tubing string while the gravel `isf-.screened off and deposited' in the: space around the screen or liner.v This a. very satisfactory method of graveling, `a well, but it naturally requiresconsiderable equipment at. the surface such. as a device for mixing. the grav-e1 with the carrier iluid, a pump for forcing4 the mixture into the well and, the carrier fluidlupfward again to. the surfacel etc., and it also requi-res. careful checking of theamount of. gravel deposited.

Without any outstanding success; .attempts4 have been made tov force a. screen or perforated liner downwardly into ai previously deposited mass of gravel. Even when the-screen portion isl provided with a pointed or tapered. .lower end-K it isl very diiiicult, if not impossible, tov forcel the screen into and through the gravel mass to any appreciable distance sin-ce thev gravel isI not compressible and. must be forced laterally intothe side walls of thev cavityor hole.

In accordance with the present `invention a procedure is employed whereby `an amount of gravel. substantially equal'in. .volume vto the spacetobe occupied. by thescreenis. removed from. a` previously placed gravel bed. Thus, the invention may be de'ned; broadly as amethodof completing a well with a gravel. pack and screen,4 comprising fillingI a well cavity with. gravel, forming a hole in the bed of gravel shaped to receive a screen by removing the gravel. therefrom while maintaining, the shape of .the hole. and providing the shaped hole with a screen..

reference may bey had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a vertical, sectional elevation' thro-ugh the lower portion or a well borefsh'owing' a screen-in position surrounded by gravel pack;

Figure :2` is asimilar view showing ai modi-v` cation;

Figure B is a similar view showing anotherv modication;

Figure 4 is a sectional detailed viewshowing another manner of attaching the screen and inner tube tothe drill-.pipe-'or tubing string; andr- Figure 5 is another sectional detailed viewv showing the lower end ofthe screen of Figure 3- in a slightly different form.

Referring to the drawing a' wel-l bore I0 isshown yas penetrating the formations t2* and being provided at its bottom, with a cavity I 4- within. a producing vformation l5, IThe hole to also provided.. with a casing t8- cemented in place. as indicated at 2li and a mass or bedT of gravel or other granular material 22' is shown as--having kbeen deposited within the cavity til- 4i-pipe' string, 2.4. which-may be drill pipe'or tubing hasY attached toitslower end a-sfcreen1member orv perforated' liner 25 and the screen 2E has attached.- to its lower end-'a pointed section :28; Attached `as by welding to theouter surface of thescreenV 2i? andl pointr 28 is-a helical fla-nge Bit extending throughout the length' of: the? screen.

In placing the screenv as sho-wn in Figure 1 the `cavity -lll is rs't filled with the gravel asby pouring the latter into the well bore at the surface, after which thev screen 26' is lowered suspended from the-pipe string- 214- until thepoint 2li/reaches. the level of they gravel bed 2-2. The'- pipe string. is. then rotatedl while being lowered slowly into `the gravel bed and as the screen ad varices. the flange 38 d-iSplacesv gravel upwardly into the annular space between vthe casing l8- andthe lower portion of the pipe 24. ThusA a hole isY bored: inthe gravel. bed and is maintained by theoutersurface of the'screen 26. The flange 3.9 does not vfunction as the thready onf a screw being driven. intoy wood, but. rather the flange servesapurpose similar to the high pitch ange on the sides 01- ax wood auger bit, i'. e., the iiange For a better understanding of vthe invention conveys upwardly the gravel displaced by the" penetrating action. of the screen. After the screenl. has reached thef proper depth or substantially the` bottom `of the. cavityv i4, any suitableA form. of. packer 32. may be placed soas to fill the space between the casing I8 and the pipe 24 above the gravel which has been moved upwardly within the casing, andthe well. may- 3 then be placed on production, If desired, in order to protect the outer surface of the screen from abrasion by the gravel 22, the screen may be covered prior to placing it in the hole by a coating or sheathof decomposable material such as an acid soluble resin or metal. In such a case after the screen is in place the decomposable sheaths may be destroyed by introducing into f:

the screen through the pipe string a suitablev chemical, such as van acid, as is well known.

Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment wherein an inner tubular member 34 attached to the lower end of a pipe string 24 serves both to cut the hole and to remove the gravel. The tube 34 has at its lower end a cutting edge 36 to facilitate movement through the gravel bed 22. Disposed about the inner tube 34 is an outer tube or sleeve 38 preferably formed of a decomposable substance such as an acid soluble resin or metal. The tube 38 may also contain perforations, not shown, in which case it may be of permanent construction. The inner tube 34 is preferably connected to the lowerend of the pipe 24 by means of a relatively low pitch right hand thread 48 and the upper end of the tube 34 is upset slightly so as to provide material for a coarse or high pitch right hand thread 42. The lower end of the tube 34 is provided with a valve 44 of any suitable type adapted to close when the tube 34 filled with gravel is raised.

In accordance with this embodiment the tubular members 34 and 38 are lowered and rotated so that they will be forced through the gravel bed 22. In some cases a reciprocatory vertical movement may be found more satisfactory in forcing the tubes through the gravel bed. Preferably the cavity7 I4 is provided at its bottom with a hole extension 46 of substantially the same diameter as the tube 38. When in the position shown in Figure 2 the inner tube 34 will be lled with gravel and by rotating the pipe string 34 in a left hand direction the connection 42 will become unthreaded whereupon, when the pipe string 24 is pulled upwardly the valve 44 will close, thus trapping the gravel within the tube 34 in which it can be then pulled upwardly to the surface. The hole in the gravel will then be maintained by the outer tube 38 into which a screen, not shown, can then be lowered on a production tubing string. The tube 38 can then be destroyed as by means of an acid as explained with reference to Figure 1. When the tube 38 contains perforations, it may be left in the well to form a permanent protection for the screen. By placing a packer similar to that shown at 32 in Figure l between the pipe 24 and the casing I 8 the well will be ready for production. Due to the provision of the hole extension 46, gravel from the bed 22 will be prevented from entering the tube 38 at itsrlower end.

In Figure 3 is shown an embodiment somewhat similar to that of Figure 2 but in which the outer tube member 56 consists of a screen or perforated liner. Within the screen D is an inner tube 52 having a suitable valve 54 at its lower end, this valve being similar to the valve 44 of Figure 2. The inner tube 52 rests upon a shoulder 56 at the bottom of the screen 50 and the lower end of the 4 to which the screen 50 is attached. While being lowered through the gravel bed 22 the inner tube 52 fllls with gravel and after reaching a desired depth preferably such that the lower end of the screen 52 will be within the hole-extension 46, a few left hand turns of the pipe string 24 will disconnect the screen 50 at the threaded joint 64, after which an upward pull on the pipe string will cause the valve 54 to close to trap the gravel within the tube 52 and that tube with its gravel can then be pulled upwardly to the surface. A flow tubing can then be lowered and screwed onto 'the upper end of the screen 50 and after placing a packer similar to that shown in 24 in Figure 1 the well will be in condition for production.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3 the screen 56 can, if desired, be provided with an outer sheath of a decomposable material in order to protect the screen from abrasion, this sheath being subsequently removed as described with reference to Figure 1. v

Figure 4 shows an alternative form of connection between the pipe string 24 and the tube 52 and the screen 50. In this form the upper end of the inner tube 52 has affixed thereto a collar 66 and the lower end of the pipe string has a bellshaped portion 68 provided'at its lower end with threads l0 adapted to engage threads on the upper end of the screen 50. Within the lower porl tion` of the bell 6B is a thickened annular portion 'l2 into which is threaded a collar 14. In assembling, the tube 52 with its collar 66 attached is placed within the bell 68 after which the collar 14 is screwed in place. The screen 52 is then screwed to the lower end of the bell. With this form when it is desired to move the inner tube 5,2 with its gravel from the hole the pipe string 24 is rotated to disconnect the threaded joint 'Ill and upward movement of the pipe 24 will then cause the collar 'i4 to engage the collar 66 so as to pull the tube 52 upwardly.

In Figure 5 is shown another slight modification in which the screen 56 is also provided with a valve 16, the shoulder 56 being disposed above the valve. In this case a slight upward pull on the pipe string 24 prior to disengaging the threads 64 of Figure 3 or the threads l0 of Figure 4, will raise the screen 50vso that gravel trapped within its lower end will cause the valve 76 to close in which position it will be held bya' latch 78. With this form it would not be necessary to place the lower end of the screen in a hole projection such as is indicated at 46 in Figure 3.

Obviously'many modifications and variations of the invention as hereinbefore set forth may be made without departing from the spirit and the4 scope thereof but only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.k

I claim:

1. A method of completing a well with a gravel packed screen which comprises substantially filling the lower portion of the well with gravel, forcing a pair of open-bottomed concentric tubes 5 through the gravel filling coaxially with the well screen is preferably provided with a suitable cutting edge 58 to facilitate its passage through the gravel bed. The lower end of the pipe string 24 is provided with a double bell-shaped portion 60 having an upper, relatively iine, right hand thread 62 to which the inner tube 52 is attached and a lower, relatively coarse, right hand thread 64 bore and removing the inner tube with thegravel contained therein while leaving the outer tube within the gravel lling.

2. A method of completing a well with a gravel packed screen which comprises substantially filling the lower portion of the well with gravel, forcing a pair of open-bottomed concentric tubes through the gravel filling coaxially with the well bore/removing the inner tube with the gravel within the gravel filling, replacing said inner tube with a well screen, and then destroying said outer tube.

3. A bottom-hole assembly for a well bore having a mass of gravel in its lower portion comprising an outer and an inner tube disposed concentrically and attached to the lower end of a string of pipe, the lower ends of said tubes being normally open, and the outer tube being attached to the pipe string by means of a releasable connection, means for forcing said tubes downwardly into the gravel mass, a check valve in the lower end of said inner tube adapted to close on upward movement of said inner tube, and means for actuating said releasable connection to disconnect said outer tube from said pipe string so that said inner tube can be pulled upwardly to the surface.

4. A bottom-hole assembly for a Well bore having a mass of gravel in its lower portion comprising a tube attached to the lower end of a string of pipe, a well screen disposed concentrically around said tube and also attached to said string of pipe, the lower ends of said tube and screen being normally open, means for forcing said tube and screen downwardly into the gravel mass, a check valve in the lower end of said tube adapted to close on upward movement of said tube, and means for disconnecting said screen from said pipe string and pulling said tube upwardly to the surface.

5. A bottom-hole assembly for a well bore having a mass of gravel in its lower portion comprising an outer and an inner tube disposed concentrically and attached to the lower end of a string of pipe, the lower ends of said tubes being normally open, and the outer tube being attached to the pipe string by means of a releasable connection, means for forcing said tubes downwardly into the gravel mass, a check valve in the lower end of said inner tube adapted to close on upward movement of said inner tube, means for disconnecting said outer tube from said pipe string at said releasable connection and pulling said inner tube upwardly to the surface, means for replacing the inner tube with a well screen and means for subsequently destroying said outer tube.

GORDON A. KESSLER.

No references cited. 

